California wildfire bill may enhance homeowners’ insurance protections

NORTHSTATE, Calif. — A new state bill related to wildfire risk reduction could mean more insurance protections for homeowners.

The bill being introduced by Democratic State Senator Josh Becker, known as SB 1060, would require property insurers to take wildfire risk mitigation efforts into consideration when setting insurance costs for homeowners.

President and owner of Maxwell Insurance and Financial in Redding, Judy Maxwell, told us she feels the legislation could set a clearer timeline, as well as guidelines, for insurance providers to follow.

Maxwell said she’s noticed a lower number of property insurance carriers in California in recent years, explaining that this trend follows carriers experiencing “dramatic losses” related to catastrophic events like wildfires.

In addition, she said speeding up the timeline for setting rates is key to getting more insurance carriers on board, plus more options for homeowners.

“This is a real crisis,” Maxwell said. “There needs to be immediate action and timeline to allow these insurance carriers, and incentives, for them to be back and open up into their markets so we can have more companies to write insurance for.”

She added, “The time and process of all this is a very slow, slow process… There is not a quick fix on this.”

Maxwell said her team is seeing “astronomical rate increases” for homeowners. She feels when more carriers enter back into the market, it’ll lead to more of a balance in rates.

Maxwell wants the state’s Department of Insurance will get together with insurance carriers and find a compromise that works for all parties.

Furthermore, Maxwell said she hopes for more specific terms once the bill is finalized to help manage wildfire risks in the state.